


A Lesson Well Learnt

by Pandir



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: And the lingering presence of Yami Yugi, Blood and Gore, Early in Canon, Gen, Penalty Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 05:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10210544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandir/pseuds/Pandir
Summary: the dreams in which i'm dying were the best i ever hadSet after Seto lost to Yami Yugi, during his Penalty Game. Seto experiences death repeatedly for one night - including dying by the claws and teeth of the monster he wants to possess so badly.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KrokoRobin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrokoRobin/gifts).



> contains traces of all my three Seto OTPs, Seto/Yami Yugi, Seto/BEWD and Seto/misery :>

The forms of monsters were moving all about him in the dark, lurking, waiting for their turn. He did not think past their very real existence; their claws and teeth were all that occupied his mind in the short moments of respite. He did not even wonder how he was alive, how there was blood in his veins and air in his lungs after he had been killed over and over, maimed and torn and bled. And still, the monsters were surrounding him, pressing closer, and he heard their growls as they waited for their turn. Seto had lost count of how many times he had died this night - he had been suffocating on their toxic breath, choking on their thorned tentacles forcefully pushing past his larynx, and writhing on the ground as their fire blasts burnt the flesh from his bones, and yet the morning would not come.

He was allowed to breath again now, in a short moment of respite when he could regain his senses, his face wet with tears, but it was nothing but ragged sobs that rattled in his lungs. As he rolled onto his back, he was shaking and entirely unable to support himself enough to sit up. There was no conscious thought in his mind aside from this visceral fear that had him on edge still despite his utter exhaustion. This was all that was real now, all else forgotten, drowned out by pain and agony - all but the burning eyes of his strange opponent and his voice as he had doomed him. Seto had lost, this was all he knew. He had lost, and this was his punishment.

Sudden silence came over the beasts surrounding him and as they withdrew back into the shadows, an uneasy feeling settled into Seto’s guts. He almost sensed it, the presence of the most powerful among them, as the others made way for it so it could feast. A dragon emerged from the dark depths and its white metallic gleam drew Seto’s eyes. As it drew closer, a pale and massive shape, Seto did not cry out in fear, not this time. He was not even sure whether he still could, with his throat so raw from his agonized screaming and wailing. Instead, Seto quietly lay back, almost welcoming death, if it just would be mercifully quick. The White Dragon was the mightiest of all monsters, and Seto wished for nothing more than to be obliterated by its attack and truly burned to dust. How blissful it would be to be granted the finality of real death instead of endless torture...

The dragon was above him, its sharp teeth scraped his skin as it inspected him, and Seto shivered under its hot breath. He would not be given any mercy. The dragon was not his, and there was a vengeful gleam in the mighty beast’s cold eyes. But, Seto thought desperately, if he presented himself to its massive jaws, gave access to his vulnerable parts, it would be over faster, surely. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back, his arms limp at his sides, leaving his body entirely exposed. No more running just to be hunted like prey, no crawling and struggling, no curling up to cradle his bleeding gashes, no more begging under tears. No, he had accepted his fate.

The dragon's massive head brushed his stomach, the metallic scales cold against his skin, and Seto’s heart felt like it would fail him any moment, its fluttering rhythm too erratic to last. Then the dragon dug its teeth into the softness of his stomach, right below his ribcage, and Seto's eyes flew open with a voiceless scream. It tore into him, and Seto was too weakened to move as it pulled him up, causing him to arc his back with its teeth deep in his flesh in order to rip him open. Skin and flesh ruptured as the teeth cut through him and gravity pulled at his bones, until Seto finally collapsed on the ground, torn and bleeding. The warmth of his blood seeped out of his centre and spread over his torso as if to soothe his shaking, trembling form. Seto could see it clearly, even though he did not lift his head - dark red like his father’s, splattered on the pavement.

The dragon’s tongue was rough and hot, eagerly licking the blood off his prey that was now open and exposed beneath the beast. Its hungry growl vibrated deep within Seto's chest as the dragon's jaw grazed his insides, slick and quivering under its touch, and its long tongue pressed inside of him. Seto gasped, helplessly convulsing under the painful intrusion. Its claws were on his chest to keep him in place, slowly cutting into his skin, and all air was pressed from his lungs. He struggled for breath, his heart beating against the weight above him slowly crushing his frail and brittle ribs, and Seto was certain it would burst under the pressure. The claws sank into him, sharp like razors, and when the dragon finally pulled away, his flesh had been cut deep enough to expose the whiteness of his ribs amidst the blood-soaked red. Seto gasped for air, but his shallow, greedily drawn breath left him coughing and wheezing. There was some fluid in his wind pipe that made him choke when he inhaled. His head was swimming, clouded by the constant pain, yet unconsciousness would have meant relief, so he never seemed to be able to pass out entirely.

 _Please_ , he whispered, voicelessly forming the word with his lips as he stared into the cold blue eyes above him, his vision blurred with tears. All that escaped his throat was a garbled, wet noise. But the dragon bowed its head, nudging his chin, and Seto presented his larynx, praying and pleading for release.

As it sank its teeth into his throat, it breathed into him, and hot blinding light burned through his windpipe and filled his lungs to the brim with searing white pain. Seto did not cry out, but as he opened his mouth wide, light shone from within him, bright and deadly, and it seeped from his wounds and broke through his skin until he came entirely undone. Like a decaying corpse, he was then left to disintegrate, slowly, gradually, to witness his own flesh decompose and bare his brittle, blackened bones. There had been nothing merciful about his final death.

Nights later, Seto still woke up in cold sweat, his throat raw and his cheeks wet. Thankfully, his dreams were not as vivid as the illusions of that night, but they were real enough to his mind, and Seto had to press his hands on his stomach and chest to make sure the taught skin covering him was still whole and intact. It took several minutes until he realized that he could breathe without obstruction, and that his heart was beating unmistakably fast between the swell of his lungs. Despite it all, he was alive.

It was hard to believe. Seto felt as empty as if he had been thoroughly bled-out, his fingers cold and lifeless on his heaving chest. The overwhelming fear had not left him completely but remained with him, tight and heavy around his neck.

_Death was what he deserved._

His mind was filled with but one thought. He still saw them, even when he was awake - those eyes that burned with a wild passion. His opponent who had beaten him so devastatingly had left him not destroyed, but revived, with _one_ purpose, _one_ desire. Seto knew he would not find rest until he had restored his pride.

And really, he could not _wait_ to return the favour.


End file.
